The Dordt University women's cross country team turned in an outstanding performance at the second of its two home meets, the Holiday Inn Express Classic, held this morning on the Defenders home course.
The 9th-ranked Defenders finished second overall and were the top NAIA team in a loaded, competitive field that featured ranked teams from both the NCAA D-II and NAIA. Dordt totaled 59 points and had all seven of its counters among the top 20.
- "It was an incredible day for the women's team," said Dordt University Head Coach Nate Wolf. "To finish second against this competition, with a 28 second 1-5 gap is outstanding. We talked this week about the strength of the team being our pack. The ladies embraced that idea, with seven women crossing the line in under 22:00, another seven crossing the line in under 23:00, and six more finishing in under 24:00. The women's team has prepared at the highest level this summer and fall. The races today were a showcase of that work and an opportunity to show the collective strength of the team."
Minnesota State, a team earning votes in the NCAA D-II poll, won the team title with 28 points while South Dakota State, an NCAA D-I team, placed third. Augustana (S.D.) and 21st-ranked Benedictine (Kan.) round out the top five.
Leading the way for the Defenders was freshman
Joy Koole, who placed fourth overall with a personal-best time of 21:20. Koole has been the top Dordt runner in three meets this season. The freshman was running in the second 6K of her career and was less than five second in back of the third place runner.
Addy Liston was close behind Koole, coming across the finish line in seventh place with a personal-best time of 21:32. Four Dordt runners,
Corinne Braun,
Isabella Webb,
Hannah Thong and
Addy Crow, placed 15th - 18th and were separated by less than a second.
Jaci Burtis was the seventh Defender runner (20th - 21:57), followed by
Jessica Opfer (23rd),
Molly Hulstein (30th) and
Courtney Joiner (38th).
- "Addy Liston really led the women's team through the start of the race. The leaders took the race out hot, and Addy went with them, which pulled the Defender pack along as well. The women really moved in two packs, with Joy, Corinne, and Addy moving together and a very tight second pack of Hannah, Addy, Jaci, Bella, and Jessica running together for the balance of the race. It was fun to see the support all of the women poured into each other as they competed."
All 10 Dordt runners finished in the top 40.
Grace Steinmetz, a freshman from Bellevue (Neb.), set the course record and won the race by 22 seconds with a time of 20:40.
Dordt University won the Black Division race with 20 points, led by
Jenna Hursh who placed second overall with a personal best time of 22:15. This was the best career finish for Hursh.
The Defenders placed five more runners in the top 10;
Jada Koerner (5th),
Jeni Burtis (6th),
Elyse Zwart (7th),
Olivia Hoogland (8th) and
Elizabeth Hoogland (10th). Dordt's seventh runner,
Raegan Snieder, finished 11th and was competing for the first time this season.
By the Numbers:
- 17 teams, 150 runners competed in the Gold Division Race
- each team could enter up to 10 runners in the Gold Division race
- 7 teams, 96 runners competed in the Black Division Race
- Dordt's 1-5 split - 29 seconds; 1-7 split - 37 seconds
- Dordt's 1-5 split - 49 seconds; 1-7 split - 1:23
Defender Notes:
- this was the fourth meet of the season for the Defenders
- Dordt has finished among the top five teams in every meet
- six teams in the field were either ranked or receiving votes in their respective national poll
- the Defenders have finished first in two meets
- Sunflower Open
- Holiday Inn Express Classic - Black Division
- Joy Koole was the top NAIA runner in the field, 12 seconds faster than her teammate, Addy Liston
- Dordt's 3rd - 6th runners were separated by less than a second
- Braun - 15th place, 21:48.68
- Webb - 16th place, 21:49
- Thong, 17th place, 21:49.1
- Crow, 18th place, 21:49.5
- Koole has been the top Dordt runner in all three meets she has competed in
- Liston has been the Defenders #2 or #3 runner in all three meets
- Crow and Zwart have finished among the top 25 in all three meets
- this was the second top 25 finish for Braun, Thong, Opfer, Hursh, Koerner, Hoogland, Marshall and Jaci Burtis this season
- Opfer has a team-leading 11 top 25 finishes in her career
- 30 Defenders ran a personal best:
- Jada Abrahamson, by 41 seconds
- Corinne Braun, by 2 seconds
- Madison Bruxvoort, by 44 seconds
- Jaci Burtis, by 17 seconds
- Jeni Burtis, by 13 seconds
- Addy Crow, by 2 minutes
- Kyrin De Groor, by 1:35
- Arielle DeYoung, by 39 seconds
- Kadence Driesen, by 44 seconds
- Addison Essebaggers, by 33 seconds
- Abby Harding, by 1:20
- Elizabeth Hoogland, by 1:13
- Olivia Hoogland, matched it
- Jenna Hursh, by 58 seconds
- Courtney Joiner, by 2 seconds
- Jada Koerner, by 30 seconds
- Joy Koole, by 41 seconds
- Olivia Kraayenbrink, by 1:13
- Kayla Lammers, by 22 seconds
- Addy Liston, by 1:07
- Macy Marshall, by 16 seconds
- Emma Morey, by 19 seconds
- Jessica Opfer, by 8 seconds
- Abigail Ruse, by 9 seconds
- Allegra Sullivan, by 1:24
- Hope Tebben, by 27 seconds
- Hannah Thong, by 39 seconds
- Isabelle Walker, by 17 seconds
- Isaballa Webb, by 26 seconds
- Sieta Wiersema, by 18 seconds
- Elyse Zwart, by 23 seconds
- 16 Defenders recorded their best finish:
Up Next:
- Dordt will compete in the Mount Marty Invite on Thursday, Oct.23 in the final tune-up prior to the GPAC Championship
